Are the GDS posts a joke?

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:GDS 4 accepted ED at Harvard, 6 at Penn.

Ironically, because of all the GDS puffery, I am skeptical of this claim. Probably not a lie,but you never know.

It's not puffery, and it seems that GDS got more Harvard acceptances than Sidwell. Huge.

Why is this "huge"? I think it's great for GDS kids who got in, but GDS is now, and always has been, one of the top schools in the area for college admissions. So is Sidwell, and several others. It's not a competition.

+1

Unfortunately, it certainly is a bit of a competition for the students. The fallacy is the belief that the schools have much to do with it. Give me a few kids with comparable course work, grades, standardized test scores, and ECs from Burke, St. Andrew's, Stone Ridge, Landon, etc., and I would expect similar results. The days of reserving x slots for students from a given school seem to be largely a think of the past.

Actually I think for private schools, the counseling office has a TON to do with it. GDS obviously has a great relationship with Harvard. Just as for admissions to high school (I.e some schools are "feeder" schools) the same is true for colleges. Harvard knows what it will be getting when it admits a GDS kid probably because the college counsellors advise them.

GDS is basically the Harvard feeder school of the DC area.

Excuse me, I'm typing on my phone:
Anonymous



10 Sidwell kids got accepted to yale, it's fairly obvious that sidwells most qualified candidates were not looking to spend their college years at Harvard

Maret, NCS, GDS, WIS, Wilson, TJ, BCC, Holton, STA, GP, the MD big publics, they ALL did well!

Anonymous wrote:10 Sidwell kids got accepted to yale, it's fairly obvious that sidwell a most qualified candidates were not looking to spend their college years in Cambridge...

Huh?

10 Sidwell kids got accepted to yale, it's fairly obvious that sidwell a most qualified candidates were not looking to spend their college years in Cambridge...

I picture the GDS troll -- whose energy and reliability have all my admiration -- as a little like Elf on the Shelf -- always there, always watching and waiting. What a fun DCUM holiday tradition!

The GDS College Acceptance Troll (aka "GDS CAT") continues to have fun. Don't get too caught up in it.

Can you say echo chamber?

GDS must stand for Great Decisions for Seniors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS 4 accepted ED at Harvard, 6 at Penn.

Ironically, because of all the GDS puffery, I am skeptical of this claim. Probably not a lie,but you never know.

It's not puffery, and it seems that GDS got more Harvard acceptances than Sidwell. Huge.

Why is this "huge"? I think it's great for GDS kids who got in, but GDS is now, and always has been, one of the top schools in the area for college admissions. So is Sidwell, and several others. It's not a competition.

+1

Unfortunately, it certainly is a bit of a competition for the students. The fallacy is the belief that the schools have much to do with it. Give me a few kids with comparable course work, grades, standardized test scores, and ECs from Burke, St. Andrew's, Stone Ridge, Landon, etc., and I would expect similar results. The days of reserving x slots for students from a given school seem to be largely a think of the past.

Actually I think for private schools, the counseling office has a TON to do with it. GDS obviously has a great relationship with Harvard. Just as for admissions to high school (I.e some schools are "feeder" schools) the same is true for colleges. Harvard knows what it will be getting when it admits a GDS kid probably because the college counsellors advise them.

GDS has a great relationship with several top Ivys, not just Harvard. These universities recognize the school as a consistent incubator of amazing applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS 4 accepted ED at Harvard, 6 at Penn.

Ironically, because of all the GDS puffery, I am skeptical of this claim. Probably not a lie,but you never know.

It's not puffery, and it seems that GDS got more Harvard acceptances than Sidwell. Huge.

Why is this "huge"? I think it's great for GDS kids who got in, but GDS is now, and always has been, one of the top schools in the area for college admissions. So is Sidwell, and several others. It's not a competition.

+1

Unfortunately, it certainly is a bit of a competition for the students. The fallacy is the belief that the schools have much to do with it. Give me a few kids with comparable course work, grades, standardized test scores, and ECs from Burke, St. Andrew's, Stone Ridge, Landon, etc., and I would expect similar results. The days of reserving x slots for students from a given school seem to be largely a think of the past.

Actually I think for private schools, the counseling office has a TON to do with it. GDS obviously has a great relationship with Harvard. Just as for admissions to high school (I.e some schools are "feeder" schools) the same is true for colleges. Harvard knows what it will be getting when it admits a GDS kid probably because the college counsellors advise them.

As other posters have suggested, a lot has to do with where the top students apply. The admissions reps are very familiar with these schools and can basically at this point eyeball if they are getting the top students from a given school. If the top students from a school apply to Stanford, Harvard will probably not accept many of what it considers the next tier. If the top students apply to Yale, same thing. If the top students apply to Harvard, that school will have more Harvard acceptances and less at Yale, Stanford, Princeton (accepting for the sake of argument that those are currently the four most selective schools). For students at a very high level, with blockbuster boards and grades and teacher recs that jump off the page at you, it really is about those students and it's not that "Harvard loves School X" so much (other than the accurate fact that Harvard is quite familiar with top independent schools and can see the proven track record of success at college of their graduates -- but that's true for a broad category of independent schools).

Bottom line: it is, in the end, really mostly about (1) superb students who excel in their environment; (2) where the top students in a school in a year choose to apply early; and (3) understanding that there is still a margin of error where a student who met the profile for admission from Private School X "in any other year" somehow did not get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS 4 accepted ED at Harvard, 6 at Penn.

Ironically, because of all the GDS puffery, I am skeptical of this claim. Probably not a lie,but you never know.

It's not puffery, and it seems that GDS got more Harvard acceptances than Sidwell. Huge.

Why is this "huge"? I think it's great for GDS kids who got in, but GDS is now, and always has been, one of the top schools in the area for college admissions. So is Sidwell, and several others. It's not a competition.

+1

Unfortunately, it certainly is a bit of a competition for the students. The fallacy is the belief that the schools have much to do with it. Give me a few kids with comparable course work, grades, standardized test scores, and ECs from Burke, St. Andrew's, Stone Ridge, Landon, etc., and I would expect similar results. The days of reserving x slots for students from a given school seem to be largely a think of the past.

Actually I think for private schools, the counseling office has a TON to do with it. GDS obviously has a great relationship with Harvard. Just as for admissions to high school (I.e some schools are "feeder" schools) the same is true for colleges. Harvard knows what it will be getting when it admits a GDS kid probably because the college counsellors advise them.

Anonymous wrote:+1 on info re Maret. We are interested in it for our middle schooler.

Now that my child graduated from SFS, let me share some advice I learned on this forum years ago: just worrying about getting your kid in first! This site is filled with questions, especially about the Big 3, because people are "thinking about sending their child there" and are trying decide between schools. The DC private admissions process, especially for the top high schools, turns out to be a lot like college admissions of top schools. Perfect on paper doesn't guarantee anything, it's all a big crap shoot because hundreds more kids apply than there are spots, and if you get your kid accepted into one of them then all the info on college stats, snobby parents, rude administrators, etc. hits the rear view window!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS 4 accepted ED at Harvard, 6 at Penn.

Ironically, because of all the GDS puffery, I am skeptical of this claim. Probably not a lie,but you never know.

It's not puffery, and it seems that GDS got more Harvard acceptances than Sidwell. Huge.

Why is this "huge"? I think it's great for GDS kids who got in, but GDS is now, and always has been, one of the top schools in the area for college admissions. So is Sidwell, and several others. It's not a competition.

+1

Unfortunately, it certainly is a bit of a competition for the students. The fallacy is the belief that the schools have much to do with it. Give me a few kids with comparable course work, grades, standardized test scores, and ECs from Burke, St. Andrew's, Stone Ridge, Landon, etc., and I would expect similar results. The days of reserving x slots for students from a given school seem to be largely a think of the past.